Fate of the Fires
by MareisuinShihaku
Summary: Follow the adventures of a certain blue-haired girl as she enrolls (or rather, gets a scholarship into) a school "filled with strange people". Then again, who said you could trust mailmen anyway? [OC Applications closed! You were too late...]
1. The Chapter That Started Everything

**OKAY. OKAY, I SWEAR I'LL ACTUALLY FINISH MORE THAN FIVE CHAPTERS OF THIS. My main motivation will be OCs. Yes, you heard that right. OCs. Pokemon. School. It's cliche, but hopefully it'll keep me going.**

* * *

She awoke.

No, more specifically, her mind awoke and her subconscious returned back to her body from adventuring in the lands of dreams, but her eyes refused to open. She did not hear the familiar blaring of her alarm clock. It was also cold. Way too cold. And she did _not _like the cold.

She relented. Her eyes fluttered open to stare dully at the white ceiling above her. The soft chirping of a certain fire-type Pokemon alerted her to her senses. Anko didn't make noise that sounded so muffled like that, so…

"AH! THAT'S RIGHT! SCHOOL! THERE'S SCHOOL TODAY!"

The blue-haired girl scrambled out from underneath her blanket, scowling in frustration when she noticed she really needed to stop falling asleep while eating chocolate. She fell off the bed unceremoniously, while looking around for the Torchic she had been given. The chirps were coming from… from a pile of clothes?

"Oh, right, I was trying to some good clothes last night… but what's Anko doing in there?" she mused, then lifted a few shirts to find the Torchic glaring at her with the clothes she had been looking for clamped in the Pokemon's beak.

The bluenette sweatdropped, pulling the Torchic named Anko from the pile and onto her bed. "Thanks for that, Anko. I promise I'll get you some taiyaki later, so just sit tight, m'kay?" With that being said, she yanked the clothes from Anko's beak and hastily dashed inside the bathroom, muttering something about how it was still cold.

Her trainer currently occupied, Anko carefully stood up on her unsteady claws and glanced around, smiling when she saw the black egg behind some bags of chips. After making her way through the bits and pieces chocolate on her trainer's bed, Anko blew a small ember over the egg, keeping it warm enough for the Pokemon inside to hatch into a healthy young baby.

The Torchic's job finished, it jumped on top of a table expertly, although stumbling a bit once she landed, and caught sight of her trainer's most treasured item. It was a brilliant red ruby encrusted in an intricate gold pin, and had a thick string attached so as to make it be worn as a necklace. Anko remembered the day when her trainer's best friend had given it to her as a parting gift so vividly as if it was only yesterday…

"I'm done~ sheesh, how did Anko find it but not me? Do these clothes hate me for some unknown reason?" a sleepy voice grumbled as the redheaded trainer exited the bathroom. Her outfit consisted of a cobalt-blue hoodie that seemed one size too big, and that one size made a major difference since the tip of her middle finger could hardly be seen beyond the sleeves. Underneath that was a black tee, and she chose (or Anko found) blue jeans that ended at her knees. The bluenette ignored the common rules most schools used and slipped on brown leather boots, taking extra care that Anko hadn't 'accidentally' put in some very sharp rocks in it again.

"Right then," she muttered, eyeing the necklace before a small smile graced her lips and she put it around her neck, her eyes growing misty as the ruby glittered in the late morning light. Shaking her head, the girl picked up the warm black egg in her arms and placed it in the gray handbag she was using- wait, no, it was white. Doesn't that girl know how to clean her things properly? Anyway, she carefully placed it inside the bag and grabbed a few Pokeballs off the cluttered table as well, one of them a Great Ball with a strip of scotch tape labeling it as "ANKO". Finished with her preparations, the girl motioned for the Torchic to follow her as she headed downstairs as quietly as possible.

Her earlier outburst had not helped her nonexistent stealth, and she was eternally grateful for Arceus to have created her parents to be ridiculously heavy sleepers.

She had, after all, recently gotten a scholarship to attend a boarding school, along with a few other newspapers and money-related letters. She was thankful she was the one to have answered the door as well when the mailman had came – she didn't want her parents to leave her with a tearful goodbye, or worse yet, forbid her to go. Ever since she had dropped out of her previous school (or, rather, gotten kicked out), she had trouble finding another half-decent academy after that incident, and she never got a well-paid job. Due to that, her family suffered an average famine, and she couldn't bear to let them be hungry for much longer, especially her little sister. The bluenette turned around once she reached the front door, taking in every inch of the hallway, already missing it albeit not having step foot outside the door yet. Coupled with the rumor that this school held all sorts of strange people, she really, _really _wanted to go… and yet, she couldn't say goodbye.

A light glow came from her collarbone, and she smiled down at the ruby gem shining even when shaded from the sun. Almost as if _he _was urging her to go on and never regret her decisions, foolish as they may be. Anko looked up at her trainer confusedly, wondering why she hadn't moved yet, and the bluenette chuckled. She patted the Torchic's head for a bit, and opened the door.

The door that would eventually lead Shione Sakura to the school where everything would start.

* * *

**OC Form:**

**(Trainer)**

**Name:**

**Gender:**

**Year (1-4):**

**Age (14-17):**

**Appearance:**

**Personality:**

**History (go ahead and write whatever the hell you want in here!):**

**How did they attend this school? Scholarship? Rich as hell? Or something else?:**

**Pokemon Team:**

**Relationship (sexual orientation, love interest? Anything?):**

**Likes:**

**Dislikes:**

**Fears (this would make them totally frozen and won't move unless snapped out of it):**

**Schedule (arrange your classes however you like):**

**-Pokemon Biology (mandatory)**

**-Algebra/Mathematics (mandatory)**

**-Breeders Class (optional)**

**-Battlers Class (optional)**

**-Coordinators Class (optional)**

**-Rangers Class (optional)**

**-Medical Class (optional)**

**-Choir/School Band (optional)**

**-Gym/Physical Education (mandatory)**

**-Language (mandatory)**

**-History/Social Studies (mandatory)**

**Sport (just pick something you like):**

**Club (optional):**

**Class (Trainer, Breeder, Coordinator, etc.):**

**(Pokemon)**

**Nickname/s (optional):**

**Personality:**

**Level:**

**Moves:**

**Gender:**

**History (how did your OC find/befriend/catch them?):**

**Anything extra or different about your Pokemon?:**

**I'll be looking forward to your OCs, everyone!**

_**Reisu, 5/24/13**_


	2. The Chapter That Isn't Filler

Why, why, _why_ wherever she went, it was still cold? Shione grumbled under her breath as she stuck her hands in her pockets, thinking about how cruel the world must be to make today of all days have such a low temperature. She vaguely wondered how she was still walking if it was really that cold.

A loud ruckus from another house a few ways down the street alerted her to the fact that somebody was awake at this time. Wait, that's not even possible, is it? She had been careful to wake up just after the sun had risen over the horizon, so-

She checked the time in her cellphone. Eight o' six. Never mind.

Intrigued by the noise, Shione wandered to the direction of the sound, hoping against all laws of Arceus that someone wasn't throwing a party at eight o' six. Her prayers went unanswered when she saw the house, and recognized it as one of the rich people's mansions… er, was it a mansion? Or just a normal house? It was hard to differentiate the two, since the house looked utterly humongous in her eyes.

Peeking in one of the windows (Anko's disapproving chirp went unnoticed); Shione felt that if her life was an anime, she would have sweatdropped. There was indeed a party going on in the mansion-house, and the center of attention seemed to be a slightly short brunette who looked like he was street-dancing (another chirp did not seem to reach Shione's ears). There was another brunette, this one a female, who seemed to be yelling something about 'too many parties lately' and 'bugs are gonna bite you in school' and something along the lines of 'YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE'.

That successfully pulled Shione out of her staring, and she hurriedly left for the airport. Hopefully, the scholarship should be ticket-like enough for the stingy people in there…

* * *

"Ooh, cute girl alert! Hey there, where ya goin'?"

The bluenette blinked in surprise. She supposed it was just another guy hitting on another girl somewhere behind her, and-

"Hello? I'm talking to ya."

Apparently not. She felt a presence next to her, and she turned around to a giant… no… a tall person with messy black hair. She would have mistaken him for an adult if it wasn't for the mischievous grin he wore on his face. On his shoulder, an Aipom sat while nibbling on a banana.

His grin widened… as if that was even possible at this point, Shione thought. "Ah, so you're not deaf after all. So, where are you goin', cutie?"

Shione felt the heat envelop her entire face. She couldn't remember the last time someone talked to her like that, so why now? Her eyes scanned the area for an escape route, but then she noticed a similar pouch in his right hand. Money… she felt like drooling. "I'm going to a boarding school," came her simplest response in the history of ever.

"Oh? So am I! You willing to bet we're going to the same school? I'll be praying on the airplane for that." He winked. Shione couldn't possibly think that her face would get any hotter than it already was.

"_Attention, the plane going to the Sinnoh region will be setting off in fifteen minutes. I repeat, the plane going to the Sinnoh region will be setting off in fifteen minutes. Please head off to your designated plane in preparation._"

Thank Arceus. The speaker saved her life. Adjusting her bag, Shione bowed slightly to the black-haired ma-… guy. "Um, that's my plane. I guess I'll be going now…" her voice quieted down near the end.

The feeling of somebody patting her head numbed her entire thought process. "I guess we will be going to the same school, huh? I didn't get your name, by the way. Mine's Carlos Balestida. Nice to meet you!"

They were going to the same school? … _They were going to the same school? _Shione barely managed to hold back her violent coughing, and choked out a response. "S-Shione Sakura. N… Nice to meet you too."

'_If this m- guy is going to the same school as me, then there are definitely stranger people in here! What about that party guy, too? Hm… so maybe that mailman can be trusted? Nah… not until I see _him _with my own eyes, then I'll believe the mailman!_'

Anko chirped in surprise, alerting Shione to the small Torchic at her feet. Wait, she wasn't even at her trainer's feet anymore, the Aipom had scrambled up to sit on Anko's back, holding on to the crest on her head. The bluenette instantly knew this was a sign of things to come…

* * *

"Ah, cake… one of the best things in the world… good thing I brought some with me."

Shione's eyes fluttered open in barely concealed excitement. Anko seemed to be the same; her eyes sparkled at the mention of cake from the person beside them as she muttered her appreciation for the sugar-filled food. The bluenette inconspicuously peered to the side, her mouth watering at the sight of the chocolate-and-whipped-cream-filled cake.

She shifted just a tiny bit, ignoring the painful crick in her neck as she gazed lovingly at the sweet. The girl holding it noticed her stare and chuckled a bit. "What, you want some?" she asked.

A goddess! She's a goddess! The Empress Ho-oh herself, she was willing to bet!

"If… If you don't mind… just a tiny, tiny bit…" Shione swallowed the urge to eat every single last piece of the heavenly food. She had been willing to eat one ever since she saw one of the wedding cakes displayed on a food store somewhere nearby, and now, she had a chance! Albeit, it was only a bit, but still. She had been visited by a goddess!

With a careful hand, Shione slowly picked up a small piece of the cake, making absolutely sure she did not even so much as brush her fingertips on any other area of the rest of the cake. The instant the bluenette knew it would be okay, she split the cake into two uneven slices and handed the bigger one to the eager Anko, gobbling up her piece.

The girl, who had long black hair fitting of a goddess, watched the Torchic eagerly swallow the cake slice. "You share your food with your Pokemon, huh…" she muttered, then smiled lightly. A memory drifted in, but she hastily pushed it away once Shione thanked her (quite generously, I should add).

"… A-Ah, what's your name? I'd like to know the title of the goddess who likes cake, after all. I'm Shione Sakura, it's nice to meet you."

Maybe she could have polished up her introduction a bit more (she was talking to a goddess! What was wrong with her?!) but that had been said and done. She just hoped that the goddess would be forgiving as well as generous.

The goddess- er, girl laughed. The laugh of a goddess! Shione was graced with such a gift? "The name's Reinforce Yukimura, but call me Rein. Also…"

Here it comes! The divine punishment befitting a cake goddess…!

"I'M A GODDESS NOW! YEAH! Now, this is what I call royalty, hell yes."

Shione let out a sigh of relief. Saved by her forgiving nature. The bluenette couldn't ask for more.

* * *

The sweet taste of cake still lingered in Shione's mouth even when both her and Rein exited the plane. Apparently, the boarding school sent every student back to their home region after the school year ends, and Shione found out about this due to the fact that Rein also attended the same school. To think, being in the same school with a flirt and a goddess? Now she was absolutely sure the coldness from this morning had been a simple illusion.

"Alright, finally, that plane was stuffy as hell. Shitty authorities being shitty as usual. Z- Mightyena, come on out!" Rein exclaimed, throwing a Pokeball in the air. In a zip of red energy, a black furry dog standing on four legs appeared in front of the duo. It howled excitedly at its freedom and stretched, before sniffing Shione cautiously.

"Don't worry, Mightyena, this girl's just my new prophet, about to spread the word about the great cake goddess, Rein!" she paused. "Maybe."

The black dog tilted its head slightly, but regarded Shione with less hostility. Anko remained somewhat wary, though, and eyed the Mightyena with an Ember ready in her throat.

"Hey there, ladies~! Gee, that mailman wasn't lying when he said there'd be a lot of cute girls in here…"

"Oh, it's him," Shione murmured, turning around to look at the man… oh come on! He's still a bit shorter than an actual adult, stop thinking of him as one!… the boy with his Aipom. A boy with brown hair was next to him as well ('_ah, the party guy!_') and he had a Quilava trotting beside him.

Rein waved lazily. "Yo, flirt. Who's the little guy next to you?" she asked quite bluntly, but the brunette's smile did not falter.

"It's Chris. Christopher Kane," he responded with such a genuine air of friendliness around him Anko's embers died in her throat.

Shione pondered on how to say things for a while. "You were that guy partying in the huge mansion-house?" she asked casually, in a way that resembled Rein's bluntness. Anko kicked her trainer's leg, and promptly tried to balance herself unsteadily.

Chris nodded. "Yep, that was me. … I think? I don't know anyone else who threw a party in hearing range." He chuckled a bit. The Quilava sighed, and Anko stared at the Fire Stone necklace around his neck jealously. Mightyena rolled his eyes at Anko's obvious envy.

"You throw parties in early morning? Sheesh, that mailman was right on the spot about rich people… I wonder if they can give me food…" Rein stared off into the distance, thinking about all sorts of wonderful sweets she could get her hands off. Seconds later, her mouth started watering at the thought of a certain brand of ice cream.

"W-Well then…" Shione glanced at the goddess drooling in the distance. "I'm Shione Sakura, and the goddess over there is Reinforce Yukimura-sama. Pleased to meet you." she bowed slightly, making sure she bowed lower than when she was with Carlos. Her head then perked up, realizing something Rein had said. "… What, did everyone talk to a mailman one way or another in here? What's up with the mailmen today?"

Chris tilted his head to the side. "Mailman? That reminds me, I passed by a mailman on my way here, and I told him I was going to the same school as all of you. He told me something that I'll be able to meet tons of famous people… or something like that." He scrunched his face up. "It was really weird."

"Famous people!" Carlos was instantly beside Rein, drooling for whatever reason. "I wonder if those famous people are women…" There's his reason.

Shione 'hmm'ed. "The mailman I talked to said something sorta the same… strange people, he said…" A thought entered her head, and she joined the drooling duo at the side, her eyes sparkling. "Does this school specialize in enrolling people long gone? Or maybe some hot guys! Ahh…"

Both the brunette and his Quilava sweatdropped at the trio's actions. "Uh… guys? We're gonna be sorta, kinda, _maybe _late…"

"H-Hello? E-Er… did I hear something about mailmen in here?"

"Hm?" Chris turned around to meet a black-haired boy with glasses around his height. Next to him stood a Grovyle and in his arms was a sleeping Growlithe. "Oh, hello there! Yes, Shione here was just talking about mailmen, is something wrong?"

The boy shifted uneasily, as if he couldn't find the words to respond to that. "Ah… um… er…"

The Grovyle groaned, smacking its face with its claw.

"I-I mean!" the boy straightened up. "I mean… t-that, are you all going to the school? That academy named… named, um, what was it? The League Academy? Something like that."

Chris clapped his hands in recognition. "Ah, you mean the Legendary League Academy? Yeah, we're all going there. You too?"

The boy seemed more relaxed now. "Y-Yeah. I'm Jacob Hale, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Christopher Kane," he replied, smiling. "Those guys over there are Shione, Carlos, and Rein. The pleasure's ours."

* * *

**Ooh, I promised I'd get this chapter up quickly, but Star Trek interrupted me _ **

**Carlos belongs to Arm-Flailing-Carlos/Carlos-sama/another name he may or may not use in the future, Rein belongs to Silverdragon98, Jacob belongs to StormRider2.0, and Chris belongs to XtremeBlaze. **

**Hope I portrayed the characters nicely enough!**

**_Reisu, 5/25/13_**


	3. The Chapter That Has Ten Million New OCs

"Damn, this place is crowded. Do you first years even know where you're really supposed to go?" Rein asked irritably, pushing past people as she attempted to make her way to the airport's exit. The mentioned first years stopped dead in their tracks and started sweating profusely.

Shione was the first to react. "I'M SORRY, YUKIMURA-SAMA!"

"… -Sama?" Jacob muttered questioningly.

Rein sighed. "Well, whatever. The school's… not too far from here, so the flirt will – hopefully – guide you there. I've got things to do ('_like memorizing the entire layout of the school again so I can have some backup escape routes ready,_' she thought) so I'll be seein' ya'll!" With that, she flung a Pokeball in the air, the red energy materializing into an Aerodactyl. Mightyena backed up a few inches and jumped up, landing on the ancient Pokemon's back while Rein herself held onto Aerodactyl's claws. "You know where the school is, don'cha?"

In response, Aerodactyl let out a low screech and flapped its wings violently, leaving the befuddled group of three first years and a second year behind as it flew out the exit and towards a building in the middle of a forest. Carlos sighed, but perked up quickly enough. "Well, like what the lil' lady said, I guess I'm kinda stuck helping you guys and girl out to the school. I don't know who in the right state of mind would even think of building an academy in the middle of the forest, but we'll get there."

For some reason, the trio highly doubted that.

* * *

Elsewhere, someone else was having the same problem.

"Ugh, no matter how many times I have to go through this, this place still manages to get me lost. Oh well, I suppose I'll just be fashionably late as I always am, don't you think Rose?" the brunette asked the Eevee cradled in her arms. The Evolution Pokemon simply yawned.

The brunette sighed, eyeing the ground carefully so as to not get her white converses dirty. "What a hassle. Times like this I really wish I have a flying type Pokemon."

"Um… excuse me."

The voice behind her caused the brunette to jump up slightly in surprise, but she caught herself before the voice could say anything else. "Y-Yes! Who are you and who do you think you are, interrupting the great Stephanie Jade Anders like that?!"

In her arms, the Eevee giggled, or made a sort of noise Eevees make when they giggle.

The voice behind her had actually been a purple-haired young boy with a Poochyena on his shoulder and a Seedot scurrying from behind to catch up with its trainer. The boy gave Stephanie a friendly smile, although he twitched a bit at the brunette's high-and-mighty personality. "Well, you seemed to be lost, and I thought you might want some help with directions…?"

"Hmph!" Stephanie faced away from the boy, something that seemed to irk him. "I am very much capable of navigating this entire forest by myself! … By the way," she stared at the purple-haired boy's chest for a bit, noticing a bit of a bulge. "… You _are _a boy, are you not?"

Those very words made the boy (sorry, sorry), ahem, girl snap as she clenched her fist tightly enough to make a resounding crack, yet the friendly (?) smile didn't falter in the least. The Poochyena sensed an evil being suddenly bursting out and it hastily jumped off. "… Why, I'm sorry, but as you can see, _I'M A GIRL, DAMMIT!_"

In an instant, the Poochyena suddenly loss its fear and bounded towards Stephanie, surprising the brunette by quite a large margin. "Wh- Rose, Tackle!"

The Eevee reacted quickly, jumping out of Stephanie's arms and smashing its body against the Poochyena's, earning a pained howl from the black dog. Growling, it backed up a few inches and dashed forward with invisible speed, biting onto Rose's left front paw hard. The brown fox-like Pokemon flinched, trying to jerk its paw away from the Poochyena.

"Return!" Stephanie's voice rang out, and the Eevee nodded, focusing its power and eventually forming a pinkish aura around itself. Surprised, the Poochyena let go and growled, ready to attack once more, but Rose swiftly blasted the dark type with a pillar of pink light. The dog whimpered, but undeterred from the sudden fight.

The purple-haired girl's voice suddenly reached the Poochyena's ears. "Shadow, you know what to do." Shadow smirked (can Poochyenas smirk?) and lowered its head, confusing both Rose and her trainer for a moment before the dog let out a low, intimidating Howl, rattling the Eevee's eardrums and disturbing her thinking in the process.

"Argh! Rose, use Return! Don't let that dog's yapping get to you!" Stephanie yelled over the noise, but her voice barely reached Rose as Shadow's howling suddenly stopped. Taking this as her chance, Rose readied her boy for another Return attack, but before she could fire another beam of light at the dog, Shadow had already pounced towards the Eevee, his jaws wide open for a Bite attack powered by the Howl.

Before the Poochyena could successfully sink its fangs into the Eevee, they both froze in place. Rose's pink aura faded rapidly, and Shadow landed lithely on the ground, backing away from the brown Pokemon, sniffing around as if searching for something. Needless to say, both trainers were confused.

"Is something wrong?" the purple-haired girl had lost her anger and her worry was now directed towards Shadow as it relentlessly tossed its head back and forth, its nose in the air.

"Did you manage to catch something, Rose?" Stephanie asked, eyeing her Eevee cautiously. Rose wrinkled her nose in confusion, before slowly padding off to the west of the area they were in. Stephanie furrowed her eyebrows, but followed anyway.

Shadow, meanwhile, yipped happily and ran off to the east side, quickly followed by the Seedot as they made their way through the plants and trees. The girl hesitated for a bit, before carefully trailing after them.

With Stephanie, Rose eventually arrived in a grassy clearing, the sunlight blocked out enough for her to barely be able to see what was so interesting about this place. The Eevee paused, and trotted off to stay beside her trainer as Stephanie approached the middle of the clearing. Her nose suddenly flared with the sharp scent of blood as a shaft of sunlight slipped through a small gap, illuminating the surroundings and revealing a dark green dragon-like Pokemon with two tusks. An Axew was lying on its side, breathing heavily and surrounded in a pool of blood.

"Oh, my, what in the name of father happened to this thing?" Stephanie asked in shock, kneeling down to take a closer look at the injured Pokemon. It let out a weak cry of pain and suspicion at the trainer as she carefully touched the Axew's back, getting her finger soaked in blood in the process. She grimaced and rubbed it on the grass in a futile attempt to get it away.

"Now, what am I going to do about you? I don't know much about healing Pokemon, but I can't just leave you here either… hm…" she mused over her choices, knowing that if she tried to get it to a Pokemon Center, she'd have to catch it in a Pokeball or risk injuring it even more by carrying it. Now, while the first option was very much logical, there was one problem.

"But you wouldn't do very nice in a Contest… besides possibly in the Toughness section, but still…" Stephanie sighed. "Oh well, looks like-"

"Excuse me, do you know what happened to this Pokemon?"

For the second time that day, Stephanie jumped up in surprise, nearly toppling over the Pokemon as she did so. "I- No, no I do not! And who do you think you are, sneaking up on the great Stephanie Jade Anders like this for the second time?!" she yelled angrily while trying to catch her balance.

From the shadows, an afro-hairstyle boy stepped out accompanied with a Honchkrow and Houndoom, his glasses glinting slightly. "Calm yourself, miss. I'm Steven Odecha, and that'll be all you need to know for now. And did you say something about being surprised for the second time today?" a small, almost unnoticeable smile crept on his face, embarrassing Stephanie more than she wanted to let on.

"You… You shut your mouth! Now how about you help out this poor Pokemon here?!" she gestured wildly towards the Axew, who hadn't moved from its spot on the bloody grass. By her side, Rose stared up at her trainer in amusement with the gestures she was making.

Steven rolled his eyes, but nodded anyway, kneeling down in front of the Axew and pulling out a Hyper Potion from his backpack. "This might sting a bit," he whispered to the dragon type as it squirmed uncomfortably once he sprayed the potion all over the wound on its back. It quieted down after, sleeping peacefully.

"Well? Aren't you going to catch that Pokemon?" he asked expectantly, looking at the brunette.

Stephanie shrugged. "Won't you?" she retorted.

"I have no real affiliation with dragon types. I specialize more in dark types. Now if you'll excuse me, miss." With that, he turned around and walked off, his Honchkrow carefully eyeing Stephanie before flying next to its trainer. The Houndoom growled threateningly at the brunette, but made no move to attack her and backed away, following its trainer soon after.

"Hm…" Stephanie looked down at the snoozing Axew, its bleeding already stopped. "What do you think, Rose? Should I catch it?" she asked, turning towards her Eevee. Rose blinked confusedly, as if to ask why Stephanie was asking her Pokemon instead of herself, but nodded anyway. Stephanie sighed, and dug a Pokeball from her pocket. "Well, whatever you say. I guess I'll just have to include him in the Toughness section after all."

Once the red-and-white sphere had sucked the dragon type in, Stephanie stood up and dusted herself off, then looked around. "Now that that's over with at last… where are we again?"

Rose stopped moving altogether and started sweating as Stephanie turned to her Eevee. "Rose… didn't you lead me here?"

* * *

Apparently, it had been the soft tune of a violin that had attracted Shadow's attention to the east side, as Riley the purple-haired bo- err, girl had found out shortly after the Poochyena had entered the narrow pathway. Sitting on a tree stump and hidden from most wild Pokemon and trainers was a tall teen with dark chestnut-colored hair. His eyes were closed serenely and his hand played the violin almost expertly. At his side lay a Liepard, and a Chatot was perched on his shoulder, chirping along in tune.

While Riley may had been content to simply stand there unnoticed and listen to his peaceful playing, Shadow and her Seedot, Crafty, had made a few noises along the way as they both approached the violinist with slight caution. The boy opened one eye at them and closed it once more, continuing his playing for a few more minutes.

"I know you're there. Please come out."

His monotone voice and the fact he had seen her surprised Riley (although she wasn't being all that discreet in her location in the first place), and she stepped forward a few inches. "Uh… hey there," she greeted awkwardly. He nodded slightly in a sign of recognition, but didn't press the conversation. Riley was a bit unsure on what to do now, so she decided on sitting down and simply listening to the song he played.

Much to her disappointment, the song ended shortly after she took a seat on the grass. He stood up abruptly, returning the violin to its case and walking off. The Liepard stood up sleekly, padding off after his trainer obediently. Shadow and Crafty tilted their heads in confusion (this lead to Crafty almost falling down, but he quickly managed to keep his balance), but they did not chase after the teen and returned to their trainer's side, looking up at her.

Riley frowned a bit, confused as to how he was acting, but decided to follow him anyway. Not a lot of people went into this forest for just any reason, and she was willing to bet he was that one 'master violinist' from last year. She hurried to keep up with his brisk pace.

* * *

"Ah! H-Hey, get back here!"

Shione's order fell on deaf ears as the Luxray dashed off, a glimmering ruby gem and a fiery red necklace clenched tightly in its teeth. The group had entered the forest, and while Carlos had been actively (trying) to find a way towards the building in the very middle, the Gleam Eyes Pokemon had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and snatched Shione's necklace in an instant, quickly followed by Chris's Quilava's Fire Stone necklace as well.

"Wha-? Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" Chris yelled after the fleeing Luxray. "Volc, go get that Pokemon!"

Volc the Quilava nodded, zooming away and chasing the electric type with astonishing speed. Anko and Shione followed quickly after.

"Huh? Bu-But, we're gonna go off course…" Jacob futilely tried to get them to listen to him, but Carlos only sighed and shook his head, walking off after the Pokemon and trainer casually, arms behind his head.

"D-Do you have any idea on why the Luxray just came out of Arceus-only-knows and snatched necklaces all of a sudden?" Chris asked, jogging to keep up with Carlos. The flirt shrugged.

"Probably that bishonen's Pokemon again. I still remember the time it snatched one of my senior's underwear… hehe…" a small bit of drool was escaping the edge of his mouth, and Jacob desperately tried to force his mind away from the thought as he tried to see where the Luxray had run off to.

* * *

When his Luxray, Tesla, had come running back with something shiny in his mouth, the bleached blonde haired boy knew his electric type had done something to make the trainer have to explain everything again.

His companion gave him a look at the excited Luxray as he retrieved the two items from its mouth. "Does he do that often?" she asked. He nodded, somewhat ashamed of his Pokemon's behavior.

"**_Stupid._**" His Kirlia glared at the Luxray, who in turn only smirked back at him. Sol the Kirlia rolled his eyes.

"**_You know you shouldn't be doing that, Tesla._**" Luna the Gardevoir chastised, and Tesla only stuck his tongue out at Luna childishly. His companion's Mightyena growled at the Luxray, but he paid him no mind.

As expected, two Pokemon and a trainer came bursting out of the overgrown plants, panting lightly. When the blue-haired girl's gaze flitted towards his companion, her eyes shot forward (metaphorically). "Eh? Yukimura-sama?"

His companion, Rein, raised an eyebrow. "Ah, my prophet, what are you doi- … you were stolen from?" she guessed, and Tesla beamed proudly.

Shione nodded. "Yeah, by _that lion over there._" Her voice held so much contempt that he had to double-check if the necklaces were really that expensive-looking.

The Quilava growled and tensed its muscles, but made no move to attack. Anko, on the other hand, looked absolutely pumped up and looked every bit ready to beat the Luxray to a bloody pulp. Naturally, Tesla was not the least intimidated by Anko as she furiously fluffed her feathers to the point where she looked more ridiculous than frightening.

"I apologize on my Pokemon's behalf." He bowed down, emanating an apologetic aura while doing so. When he raised his head and Shione caught sight of his face, she instantly tried resisting the urge to swoon. "Tesla here was just a bit… mischievous… and I understand if you'd want to have your treasures back. But… if Tesla managed to snatch these from under your nose, are you strong enough to own it?" the corner of his lip quirked upwards a bit. "Are you willing to fight for these?" he dangled the two necklaces in front of him, causing Anko to chirp angrily and Volc to growl threateningly.

Shione resisted the urge to run over there and punch his handsome face. "E-Eh? But that necklace is my last memory of… _him_… do I really need to fight you for it?" she asked hesitantly, knowing Anko wouldn't stand a chance against the powerful looking Gardevoir next to him. Heck, she wouldn't even last thirty seconds against the Kirlia!

"W-Wait! Did you say you wouldn't return those to us if we lose against you in a fight?!" another voice asked, this one surprised as all hell. Chris emerged from the plants and trees, followed by Carlos and the nervous Jacob. "But that's really important to Volc! Can't we just settle this like normal?"

"I'm afraid things don't work that way with either Tesla or I," he responded curtly.

Shione frowned in displeasure, and then turned to look at Rein who was beside him. "Why are you with this guy in the first place?" she asked.

She grinned. "Because he is hot."

Mightyena sighed exasperatedly.

Before Chris could say anything else, a Pikachu suddenly materialized out from one of his Pokeballs. "Huh? Oh, Thunder, what are you doing out of your ball?" he asked confusedly.

Thunder the Pikachu pointed angrily at Tesla as the Luxray looked away while whistling innocently. Once Thunder finished talking in Pikachu-speak, Luna sighed. "**_The Pikachu says they've met before, when Tesla tricked him into almost evolving into a Raichu. He wishes to settle things with him._**"

"Looks like your Pikachu wants to fight after all. Shall we?" he smirked. "I am Jin Hogaraka. Do tell your name."

Chris opened his mouth to protest against the idea, but when Thunder turned to look at his trainer with a fire in his eyes, the brunette sighed. "Oh, alright, whatever. I'm Christopher Kane, it's… sorta… nice to meet you. Now let's get this over with before we end up skipping the first day of school."

* * *

**Damn, battle scenes are gonna be hard to write… oh well. **

**Stephanie belongs to slendie258, Riley belongs to Twilightcrystalflame, Steven belongs to AmbassidorPineapplesRightHand, violinist-who-shall-not-yet-be-mentioned-for-aweso meness-factor-raising belongs to Ariesbird, and Jin belongs to BladeOfTheEclipse.**

**Phew, that took a few years off my life. Hope you enjoyed~**

**_Reisu, 5/26/13_**


	4. The Chapter With A Hopefully Epic Battle

"Slam!"

"Flash."

Thunder dashed forward, ready to smack his tail against the Luxray's side, when Tesla's eyes suddenly widened and let loose a brilliant flash of light, blinding the electric mouse as he squeaked in protest and skidded to a stop, his eyes burning against the intense light. Once he had recovered, a monotone 'Crunch.' alerted him to the Luxray's rapidly nearing jaws filled with sharp fangs.

"Dodge it Thunder!" The Pikachu did as he was told, rolling to the side and just narrowly missing Tesla's teeth as the Luxray landed lithely on the ground, staring at Thunder, unimpressed. The electric mouse growled, sparks flying from his cheeks as he got into a battle stance and tensed his muscles, waiting for an order.

Neither trainer made a move, but when they did, they both said the same thing; "Thunderbolt."

While the Luxray held his ground, Thunder jumped up and focused every bit of his electrical powers and launching a zigzag bolt of lightning straight towards the unmoving lion Pokemon. Tesla simply closed his eyes and reopened them soon after, an even larger Thunderbolt zipping towards Thunder's attack and colliding against it, creating a rather unpleasant noise of electricity against electricity. Nearby, Mightyena winced.

At first, it seemed as if both Thunderbolts were equal in power. But little by little, Tesla's Thunderbolt slowly started to overpower Thunder's and came closer to engulfing the mouse in dangerous electricity, regardless of typing. But Chris had a little trick up his sleeve. "Electro Ball, Thunder! Show 'em what you've got!"

The Pikachu smirked, and Tesla visibly tensed, knowing he was going to try something. Jin, too, noticed this. "Stay on your guard, Tesla. Don't let the mouse make a fool out of you."

Tesla growled. Being outsmarted was not something the Luxray planned to do.

Thunder shut his eyes tightly, concentrating as much as possible as the tips of his ears suddenly started to glow white instead of the usual black. Thin waves of blue lightning emerged from his ears and formed an orb of pure bluish-whitish energy, and then suddenly disappearing from existence. Tesla blinked, but then narrowed his eyes and strengthened his Thunderbolt even more. Next to being outsmarted, he did not wish to lose against a mouse not even fully evolved yet.

The Luxray's Thunderbolt started to increase in its speed in forcing Thunder back in the air, and the Pikachu was visibly struggling to keep up with the energy starting to electrify him, and when Thunder's bolt of lightning was barely even intact, Tesla was suddenly slammed back with an invisible force. Chris pumped his fist in the air. "Aha! Fell for it!" he cheered.

"Hm-?" Jin narrowed his eyes, frowning when he saw the familiar orb of energy dissipating into the air as soon as it made contact with Tesla. "So you hid the Electro Ball in your Pikachu's Thunderbolt, huh… smart, but not smart enough, it seems. Tesla, intellect time."

Tesla smirked, even though his side was bruised and still sparking blue electricity from where he was hit. In the blink of an eye, the Luxray had seemingly disappeared into thin air, much like Thunder's Electro Ball. The Pikachu gaped in surprise, and looked around confusedly, followed quickly by Chris's warning. "Focus, Thunder! Don't let your guard down!"

_lose lose lose you will lose you will _lose

The low voice suddenly resounded in Thunder's head and the Pikachu cried out in surprise, holding his head tightly. A few meters away, Jin smirked as he watched Chris try to calm the electric mouse down. "T-Thunder! What's the matter with you?"

_you will lose you are a failure you are weak weak _weak

And then, quite suddenly, when Thunder closed his eyes and reopened them, he was in a completely different place. It was dim, but he could clearly his surroundings – or rather, lack thereof. There was a small pile of snow in front of him, and then that was it. He was standing on a small patch of land, but other than that and the snow, he was completely and utterly alone. The voice seemed to be getting louder, too, and he could vaguely hear someone calling for him in the distance, but he barely acknowledged it as Thunder stared at the scenery.

_you don't deserve to live because you are weak and only the strong survive and you are weak and you will _die

He shouted. It was the only thing he could really do by now. The voice seemed to almost gain a form and swallow him whole, leaving only his vocal chords intact as Thunder continued to shout, and with each breath that left his mouth, sparks started flying everywhere wildly as he struggled to break free from the imaginary bounds. Surprised sounds came from all directions as he continued to spark uncontrollably, letting out weak Thundershocks every now and then. A pair of glowing yellow eyes zoomed towards him in his vision and then, all of a sudden-

_sorry _

Thunder closed his eyes and let out an Electro Ball by instinct. Only then when he reopened his eyes did he see that his surroundings had returned to normal, and that the energy was flying straight at the panting Luxray. Tesla took it head on, not even bothering to dodge it as he was sent flying and crashing into a tree. He slumped down, still somewhat conscious and managing to stand up, but his eyes showed clear exhaustion.

Chris sighed in relief. "Thank Arceus you're alright, Thunder. Now, finish it o-"

"Enough."

Jin's monotone voice halted Chris's sentence as Thunder collapsed to the ground, tired. "Your Pikachu is mentally drained. It's still a wonder to me on how he managed to attack Tesla while he was using his 'fifth attack'. I commend you on that."

"'Fifth attack'?! Is this some kind of technique I haven't heard of yet?" Rein asked as Tesla was returned to his Pokeball.

"That depends on your point of view," Jin curtly responded. "In any case, since you 'won', here." The bishonen handed Chris the two necklaces while Thunder was returned to his Pokeball as well.

"Oh… uh, thanks, I guess," Chris replied, staring down at the items. He'd never seen that ruby before… wait, didn't it seem familiar?

Before he could speculate more, Shione snatched the ruby out of his palms and bowed down over and over to the brunette. "Thank you! Thank you for getting this back! I have a lifetime to owe you!"

Chris felt the strange feeling that Shione now had a new god.

* * *

"You're following me, aren't you?" his low voice rang out, stopping Riley in her tracks. The violinist's question had caught her off guard, though she knew she would have been found out sooner or later anyway.

"Yeah, I guess I am," she responded, putting her arms behind her head. "Sorry 'bout that."

The violinist turned around the slightest bit and nodded, before continuing to walk. Not two minutes went by when they emerged at the edge of the forest. Riley felt the overwhelming urge to kneel down and kiss the area where the sunlight was, or thank the violinist for leading her (somewhat) here, but she simply gave him a smile.

He backed away.

"Hey, you're kinda quiet, aren't you?" she asked. "If you'd tell me your name, I think I can remember you from somewhere…"

The violinist froze. He did _not _want to be remembered. Last year, he had been called the best violinist they had in the school band, and hopefully, they'd forget about him and get a new one. But apparently, this was not the case…

"Well, if you won't, then I guess I'll tell you mine. I'm Riley Crescent, it's nice to meet you!" she smiled once more, before bidding him goodbye and walking off to enter the school gates. He hesitated for a while, but followed eventually. Beside him, Handel the Liepard purred as if he was having the time of his life. Knowing him, he eventually would.

When he entered the school, he was not the least surprised to see it almost empty, even when the clock said it was one in the afternoon already. Probably, more than three fourths of the entire school was late, him barely being included. He had stayed in the forest to practice playing some of the sheet music his father had given him, and that had apparently taken a bit of time. He should have glanced at his watch more often.

"Aye, I heard he's back too."

"Are you kidding me? I thought he was long dead."

"It might be true. There's some girl who came by with his ruby still in one piece."

"What?! But then doesn't that mean…?"

"Maybe, maybe. She won't say a damn thang unless you punch the crap outta her."

Noir Arronax the master violinist perked his ears up. If they were talking about what he thought they were talking about, then maybe someone can fill in the role of the next master violinist for him after all. The attention would get tiring for them, but oh well.

* * *

"And then, quite suddenly, I have ten thousand people trying to pry info out of me," Shione flatly said as Jacob tried to calm her down to the point where she said things in a normal tone again. "I don't know why everyone seems so interested in this! What, am I the 'Chosen One' by Arceus or something? Am I gonna save the world or whatever? Si~gh…"

Anko chirped something in Torchic-speak, but the bluenette patted its head anyway. Anko simply groaned after that.

"Aha! I remember that place!" Rein exclaimed all of a sudden, pointing directly at the… storage room? "I used to hide in there all the time in my first year! Not a single teacher or bully could find me." She puffed out her chest proudly.

"As expected of Yukimura-sama!" Shione brightened up instantly. "And I bet, while you were hiding in there, the teacher was always just a few meters away from you… five yards… four, three, two, one, and then…! He shook his head and walked away to the completely opposite direction! Then you laughed while he was out of earshot and ate cake."

Rein froze. "… Ah. Ahaha… er…"

Carlos slapped Shione's back approvingly. "You got everything right! Except for maybe the 'ate cake' part, but she did usually steal some every now and then from the shops in The Town."

"The Town?" Chris repeated. "Why does it sound like it should have capital letters?"

"Oh, right, first years. Well, that shall be our next destination! To The Town!" Carlos pointed dramatically in the air.

Jacob tilted his head confusedly. "Is it where you'd buy all your things?" he asked.

"Mm… something like that. The food there was always good," Rein reminisced, smiling at the very thought of being able to eat the cakes there again.

"… Aren't we going to be late? Or, er, even later than we are if we go there?" Chris asked, trying to make some sense of the four who were already heading to another direction. "Oh for Arceus' sake… alright, alright, wait for me, I'm coming!"

* * *

**This… felt a bit short. Oh well. How do I battle scene? *shot***

**As stated before, Noir Arronax belongs to Ariesbird. Yay for this character erryone! *shot x2***

**_Reisu, 5/27/13_**


	5. The Chapter That Was Slightly Rushed

It was getting later and later. At the very least, the sun was rising higher and brighter now, not that the abundance of trees really helped in making way for the huge star. Stephanie trudged on the forest road, tired and her ankles down where covered with bits of grass and mud splotches. Rose was safely (and cleanly) in her trainer's arms, satisfied that she wasn't half as dirty as her trainer. Stephanie, on the other hand, was not very amused at the prospect.

"So let's see," she said darkly to no one in particular. "In the span of one morning and one-fourth of an afternoon, I have managed to get some person of ambiguous gender angry, catch an Axew for the Toughness contest and get my fingers bloody whilst doing so, and meet some guy named after the Hoenn League Champion in the forest. I wonder if this day could get any stranger."

"Need any help there, girl?"

Oh yes, she also forgot to mention she had been snuck up on and surprised by two people today… er, make that three. Stephanie jumped up once more and swiveled her head to the source of the noise, which seemed to be from the top of a particularly tall tree. "_What _exactly do all of you people want when knowing I am the great Stephanie! Jade! Anders!" She yelled, emphasizing each part of her name.

The voice turned out to be a male redhead with a semi-long ponytail tied with a black ribbon. His crimson eyes stared down at the rich brunette, and he pulled a red box out of the pocket of his black sweatpants. Stephanie recognized it as one of those chocolate sweets called pocky; she favored the Godiva chocolates over it. Placing one of the sticks in his mouth like a cancer stick, he shoved the box towards her general direction. "Want some?" he asked plainly.

"No, of course not. I don't like such cheap foods," she replied haughtily, turning her nose up. "Anyway, what did you call me for anyway? I don't think you did so just to offer such mediocre sweets."

The redhead rolled his eyes. Already, he was starting to feel the air of a rich and snobby girl just a few meters below his spot on the tree. "Suit yourself. I called you 'cause you looked like you were lost… _really _lost," he added the last part as an afterthought, staring down at the fuming Stephanie. "Yer heading to the LLA, aren'cha? This path's the complete opposite route, you know."

Stephanie, of course, didn't know that and in fact had been wandering around for the majority of the time she had been here, but she had her pride and dignity to keep. "Of… Of course I did," she managed to say. "I just… saw something some way here. But that's all done and over with thanks to me, of course." '_Whatever it was,_' she added in her thoughts.

"Mhm. Right." He looked unconvinced, from the way he had somewhat of an amused smirk on his face.

'_Now if only that Axew could scratch his face off, maybe it'd have an actual use on my team…_' Before she could go any further on that plan, the boy jumped down from the tree and landed perfectly on his feet, surprising Stephanie with just how much like a cat he was. '_… But cats can't eat chocolate, can they?_'

"C'mon, princess, LLA's over here," he said, walking off to the completely opposite direction she had been walking on just a few minutes ago. He didn't even cast a glance over his shoulder to check if she was really following him, nor did he keep a slow pace for her tired legs to catch up. Stephanie forced herself to catch up with him and his fast speed, glaring holes at the back of his vest.

"So, if I'm going to be following you for now," she practically spat. "I think it'd do me a load of good if you'd tell me your name."

He looked over his shoulder this time, although just the tiniest bit. "Asking for someone's name without even telling your own? Then again, you did tell me, but indirectly… and quite angrily at that." He grinned mischievously. Stephanie was resisting the urge to throw Rose at his face and tell her to bite it, but then he opened his mouth once more. "It's Kyosuke, princess, Kyosuke. Don't get your panties in a twist."

On one hand, he did tell her his name, but the overwhelming urge to do her above plan was becoming even more overwhelming with every syllable that escaped his mouth. Seeing the six Pokeballs dangling off his black leather belt, though, Stephanie decided challenging him now wasn't the ideal choice. Plus, she'd just get Rose dirty.

"Tch! Commoner," she muttered under her breath spitefully. It was the only thing she could do right now; there might be a contest in the school in a few weeks, and the 'princess' rather not enter a disgruntled Rose in it.

* * *

The Town turned out to be a, well, town. Except, while it was technically a town, it was rather big for a normal town and easy to get lost in, especially since there was a 'special occasion', as the sign at the entrance said, because it was the first day of school and according to Rein, this meant more people, students or not. At least it also meant everything was at half price, and Shione was desperate to buy something.

"W-What are you getting so excited about?" Jacob asked, eyeing the giddy bluenette as she jumped up and down. "Is it something _really _important?"

"YES! It is!" she responded loudly, causing the thin boy to scurry away from her nervously, hiding behind his Grovyle, Gigo. The gecko Pokemon simply rolled its eyes.

Rein strolled ahead, arms behind her head. "Mind you, even though everything is at half price, the shitty people managing the shops aren't exactly aiming for the poor people here," she said. "And I'm saying this from experience. Damn those ice cream vendors…" she growled.

Carlos headed almost directly to one of the cafes nearest to them. "Cheesecake, oh my darling!" he dramatically called out. At the mention of the word 'cheesecake', there were two reactions from two different beings; Carlos's Aipom cried out excitedly and started bouncing on its tail wildly, and the person manning the counter of the café took notice of him and froze instantly once he heard 'cheesecake'.

"Men!" he hissed at the people slacking off once more in the small kitchen. "Remember that one guy who made three of you faint from cooking way too many cheesecakes?" he asked.

One shivered, while the rest of them nodded fearfully; they were all too aware of that incident, when the two that fainted quit almost immediately once they regained consciousness. The only thing keeping the other one on the job was the increased pay the manager had promised him.

"Well he's come back!" there were gasps of alarm and terror, and the one that had fainted that day fainted again, collapsing in his friend's arms. "Quick, everyone! Ready yourselves for the most terrifying incident to repeat once more!"

"AYE!" the men responded loudly, albeit nervously as well. The man nodded and returned to the counter quickly before any suspicion could be raised. When he looked forward, however, his legs turned to jelly at the grinning Carlos whose mouth was already starting to form the word 'cheesecake'.

'_Oh dear,_' he thought just before he uttered the dreaded words.

"May I have some cheesecake?"

* * *

Rein, on the other hand, had gone straight to the nearest ice cream stand she could find. Thankfully, the woman owning the stand hadn't been as stingy as last year's, and she went away with Mightyena in tow, licking her cookies-and-cream filled ice cream contentedly. "Now… where to go?" she mused to herself. However, before she could get really far with what she was thinking, an evil grin lit up her face. "… Ooh, _now _I know what to do." With her little plan in mind, she ate the rest of the ice cream whole (surprisingly not suffering any brain freeze) and dashed off with Mightyena, eager to do something she had been desperately longing to do ever since she came back to the school.

Why, get back to her old antics of course!

She headed back to the school and traced her way back to the principal's office, which was thankfully uninhabited as of now. Rein flipped through the files on the old-fashioned wooden desk. "Lessee… schedule, student files, grocery list, ideal places for a romantic date with Professor Bonsai, plans for this year… wait…"

The prankster paused midway through her flipping, skimming over the messily scribbled notes on 'plans for this year'. Her eyes widened at the last item, and she hurriedly opened one of the drawers at the side of the desk. Rein grinned proudly once she saw around half a dozen tiny pouches tied with a thin red ribbon. She stuffed the pouches in her jeans pocket and her gaze flickered back to the paper, before she shrugged and tore off the unused part of the paper, then grabbed a black permanent marker and scrawled a little 'message' on it for the principal who was sure to return sooner or later looking for the pouches. Thinking that, she snickered lightly and placed the torn paper inside the drawer, closing it and rearranging the files to look as if she were never there. Once she finished that, she turned around to see Mightyena having bitten off a large chunk of a nearby chair, looking quite proud of himself for knowing what to do without Rein having to tell him.

She grinned and patted his head, taking a mental note to feed him extra during dinner, and ran out the door with the black dog by her side.

"Hehe~ Princi-chan is going to have such a shock when he gets back," she giggled to herself, barely dodging a male blonde. Jin stared after the rapidly disappearing prankster with slight amusement in his eyes, and Luna sighed, shaking her head disapprovingly as she knew exactly why 'Princi-chan' as Rein so lovingly called the principal.

"**_Honestly, that girl… she's becoming a notorious criminal in the school already,_**" she grumbled telepathically. Jin nodded in agreement; probably only Tesla could match her mischievousness. And even then, he'd have a hard time.

* * *

**Well I probably should have slowed down while writing this, but French fries tasted too good for me to stop. 8D**

**Kyosuke belongs to me, surprisingly.**

**_Reisu, 5/27/13_**


	6. The Chapter Where Things Kinda Move On

Kyosuke knew.

He knew why he had led that girl with the Eevee to the academy; while it was a bit because it hurt to see her walking in circles, it was also because he wanted an excuse to have a visit here as well. LLA, after all, was his previous school and he had been the top trainer for some time in there… until _that _happened.

That devastating, life-changing incident that left him no other choice but to drop out before his fourth year begun, having gotten an old lady he helped out to act as his grandmother and put on a façade of sorrow that he had died while fighting a Pokemon with rabies. He supposed he had been ridiculously lucky since that lady happened to be a rather expert conniver and liar 'back in her days'.

Now? He was almost absolutely sure the teachers would recognize him, and maybe some of the students who weren't first years, and it was terrible having to go and blow his cover about being dead by coming back to a place he had missed for a long time. In addition, he had overheard a rumor that 'a blue-haired girl has a ruby' and was enrolled into this school as a first year… it couldn't have been her, no way; she wasn't rich and she had gotten kicked out of her own school so it was impossible for it to have been her. It was probably just another rich blue-haired girl with a ruby.

Of course, he was nowhere near convinced, but he didn't want her (or anyone for that matter) to get caught up with the incident. It was just too dangerous for them, for even the new elite trainers that would have inevitably taken up the role of the strongest. Even when he had grown more modest over the years, he was still sure he could beat them all with either just Taichi or Doomsday.

He vaguely wondered if _she _still had the egg he had given her – or had it hatched into a fine young Pokemon already? It would have made him proud to at least see it.

"… In any case," he muttered to himself as he released his Altaria, Soar, and climbed on him as the flying-and-dragon type bayed happily at being able to fly. "I'll have to check The Town's bulletin board first. That's my first stop."

With that firmly in mind, Soar flapped its wings and took off.

* * *

The item Shione wanted was in fact, a violin.

She had gone off on her own, insisting she would be fine by just herself and Anko. Of course, that was a lie. She was nowhere near fine _until _she actually got the violin.

It was at half price, and but still a bit too expensive. The cashier person had been a mite generous though, offering her a slight discount when she had looked in her pouch and scowled. Needless to say, she had blown almost three-fourths of her money on a single violin and its bow, but it was well worth it.

After buying the musical instrument, the bell rang right on time. This wouldn't be a problem except she had pretty much no idea on where to go. She didn't know where Chris, Jacob, or Rein was as well; though she had an inkling as to where Carlos was, she didn't know the exact location.

'_Sigh… at this rate, it's gonna be night before I find the school! Why did I split up with them again?_'

"I spy with my little two eyes… a damsel in distress, yes?"

Shione jumped, causing Anko to flap her tiny wings frustratingly. Behind her, Carlos stood eating a cheesecake in his right hand with a little grin. "Oops. Sorry to surprise ya."

She sighed and shook her head. "N-No, it's fine. Say, do-"

"-you know where the school is? 'Course I do. You're gonna have to learn how to navigate this head-spinning place soon, though~" Carlos interjected.

The bluenette looked confused for a moment, before she shrugged and nodded.

* * *

When the bell had rung, Riley did not expect to be one of the few who would arrive early at the assembly hall.

She took a seat next to the same rich brunette who had _apparently _mistaken her for a boy; her anger had long faded away, though, now it was just replaced with slight annoyance.

"Oh, it's you! The… girl with the Poochyena?" the brunette still had trouble seeing her as a female? Really?

Forcing herself to be polite, Riley replied, "Yeah, that's me. I don't know anyone else with a Poochyena anyway." She grinned weakly at this.

"Hm…" the brunette scrutinized her. "While I'm not really in a good enough mood to say sorry, I at least would like to know your name."

'_Good enough mood to say sorry?! Who does this girl think she is?!_' Despite that, Riley nodded. "Yeah… I'm Riley Crescent. It's nice to meet you, I guess." '_Well, I don't really know if it's 'nice' to meet her or 'abso-freaking-lutely great' in a sarcastic tone, but…_'

She was cut off her thoughts by the brunette once again as she stretched out her arm for a handshake. "Good! Then, I am the great Stephanie Jade Anders. Challenging me is a death wish."

'_So maybe she's not that bad after all… I'll just have to get used to her, then?_'

"Oh, but… if you're going to shake my hand, don't damage my manicure, I just had it."

'_… Deal with it… deal with it…_'

* * *

Once a big enough group of students had gathered in the assembly hall, the principal saw fit to start babbling incoherently at the vice principal. "P-P-P-Professor! I can't find _those_!"

The VP nearly fell out of his seat at the mention of _those_. "What?! What do you mean you can't find _those_?" he almost yelled, standing up. "We have to find them right _now_!"

"Yes, yes, I know that! But, well…" the principal let out a sigh, handing him a piece of torn paper. "I think I have some sort of idea on who the culprit is…"

The VP skimmed the paper for two long seconds, then groaned, burying his face in his hands and letting the paper fall to the floor. "Now what? We paid good money for _those_! If she gets a hold of something, we're never gonna get it back."

"True that. I guess we'll just have to scrap that idea and move it for next year."

He sighed. "I suppose so. I had even been looking forward to it…"

The principal took one last glance on the note on the floor, and promptly tore it to pieces.

_Because _fuck _you, authorities! I do what I want! :P_

_-Rein the great cake goddess_

* * *

When the principal came to the front of the hall, accompanied with a large Scolipede, Steven froze.

Instantly, Houndoom went insane, growling and nipping at the heels of the people in front of them. When they complained, Steven didn't even pay attention – he didn't like people that much anyway – and instead trained his eyes on the centipede-like Pokemon. It was huge, it could hurt dark types, and most of all, it was _poisonous_. Also, it seemed to be looking at him.

He almost screamed. He caught himself just in time; it wasn't his nature to scream, dangerous or not dangerous Pokemon. Steven placed his hand between Benoqe the Houndoom's horns, rubbing it gently to calm him down. It worked, somewhat.

"Due to some unfortunate happenings," even in the half of the first sentence, most of the students who weren't first years instantly turned to look at the proudly grinning Rein at the back, "We shall have Miss Yukimura to come over here for a while."

"What?" "This can't be!" "It's the end of the world!" "Rein? Being invited by the _principal _to come on _front_?" "It's blasphemous!" "Did he bribe her with cake?"

Rein, on the other hand, strode confidently to the front with Mightyena in tow. When she reached the front, the principal reluctantly handed her the microphone, and the prankster eagerly started doing the thing she did every first day of school – talk, and possibly scare the hell out of the first years.

"HE~Y-_YO_!" she cheered. "I'm pretty sure all a' ya are _quite _familiar with the rules here, thanks to Princi-chan here," she jabbed her thumb at the fuming principal, or 'Princi-chan', "But I'm gonna repeat myself in case ya first years haven't heard the rules at least three thousand six hundred seventy two times! Ya have to _wake _up early, _study _early, an' _sleep _early! All the while lookin' _sharp _about it! A'course, unless ya're straight-A students or people who appahrently don't like havin' fun, then ya'll can just shove those rules in a tiny fuckin' part of your brain!"

Some visibly flinched at the curse word. Rein continued on anyway. "There ain't a strict dress code for the students, but ya do have ta wear something that looks _good _on ya! But then if that _were _the case, then I guess the boys dun' have to wear anythin' at all, do they?" she winked.

"Second-to-last thing ya need to know is that Princi-chan was thinkin' of handin' all a' us little machine thingies that let you _understand _yer Pokemon!" there were collective gasps among the crowd. "Yep, that's right, _understand _'em! But un_foooor_tunately," she grinned like the cat who ate the canary. "_I _got 'em! A'course, 'twas mostly to get Princi-chan boiling mad like hot water, but hey! Ya want 'em, ya're…"

All was quiet for five agonizing seconds.

"… Ya're gonna get 'em, a'course. I'm not _that _bad."

The crowd erupted into cheers. A yell of 'YOU'RE THE GREATEST GODDESS, YUKIMURA-SAMA!' was barely heard through all the noise.

Rein grinned proudly as she looked over the partying students. "Good ya're all awake now. They'll be distributed evenly ('_hopefully_') in the dorms, and because I'm an awesome cake goddess and role model for ya'll, I say that today's the day that those _goddamn fucking die-in-a-fucking-shithole-already _teachers are gonna let us go on a _half-day_! Ya got it?" the cake goddess glared holes at the teachers who had attended the assembly, and they rolled their eyes. "Ya'll do it, or else I ain't givin' these machinery thingies to the students! So ya're doing it for fuck's sake!"

"If it wasn't for the fact that we knew you had gotten it, we would have given up our search already," the principal muttered. "Those 'machinery thingies' cost a ton, you know."

Rein stuck her tongue out at him. "If that's the case, then I'll just throw 'em all out the window. 'Sides, money ain't even important to ya guys if ya kinda just leech off of us."

At the mention of the items being thrown away, the principal instantly started to sweat, then sighed. "Fine, fine, you little annoying self-proclaimed goddess, today's the first _and last _day we're ever having a half-day…"

The students cheered once more.

* * *

The last class of the day was quite possibly the most interesting for Noir.

In Medical Class, they had been taught how to deal with different types of injuries on Pokemon, such as what kind of Potion to use in Situation A, or what sort of Berry to use in Situation B. The Battlers Class was simple enough; lectures to trust your Pokemon in the heat of battle, don't get distracted, etcetera, etcetera. History effectively numbed his mind, but he listened somewhat anyway.

But the Breeders Class didn't even start with a lecture, or a greeting. The professor simply came in, took a look at the students, and sighed.

"Look, it's kind of strange of a professor to say this, but I don't like teaching," he said plainly. Most of the students gasped in shock, while Noir only stared. "I was forced into this by a good friend of mine, who is probably not much of a good friend anymore, so here." The professor retrieved a basket full of… eggs? "I want you all to just hatch this egg and bring the baby Pokemon to me. I'll grade you with how healthy the Pokemon inside is. That will be your first assignment, okay?"

The students were still staring at him incredulously. Noir shrugged; he had heard of how to take care of eggs. It'd work out, after all – all you need to do is keep it warm (unless it was ice type, then you need to keep it cold), and you're just about done.

* * *

'_Just my luck._' Shione thought, staring at her roommates, who consisted of Jin and Chris. '_I guess I just received Yukimura-sama's blessing to not have someone I don't like in the same dorm as me… too much._'

Just then, Tesla fell asleep on her legs, angering Anko in the process. Shione only sighed. "Never mind…" she muttered. Pulling out her violin, she decided it was well worth a bit of practice and made sure to keep her black egg peeking out for the Pokemon inside to 'hear' it. Once she actually did make her violin visible, Chris's interest was instantly piqued.

"You play?" he asked. "You didn't seem the type."

She only smiled a bit. "I'm not that good at it…"

All of Chris's doubts about her playing skill went away, however, when she drew the first note of one of her favorite songs, _Magia_. The melody was low and hauntingly deep, but it rose at the right times and managed to send a shiver down his spine when he listened closely. Anko and Tesla were paying deep attention as well, and Jin sat on the opposite bed, looking up from his book to listen to the playing. When she put the bow down after a couple minutes, Chris politely clapped.

She didn't expect that. "Huh? Uh, er…"

"You're quite good at it, you know," he praised, smiling. The bluenette looked everywhere but in his ice blue eyes.

All of a sudden, a loud cracking sound resounded throughout the entire dorm, and Shione jumped up in surprise. Anko coughed a small flame and rushed to take a look at the black egg which had a large spider-web crack on its side. Chris neared the bag, deciding to ask Shione how she even got her hands on an egg in the first place and watched with intense concentration on the hatching black egg. Jin sighed and looked up from his book once again, showing little curiosity to the absolute focus of Shione's and Chris's attention.

However, when he saw what tumbled out of the eggshells soon after, he showed all the curiosity in the world.

* * *

**Okay, so maybe I ****_should _****stop watching ****_When the Cicadas Cry _****(or ****_Higurashi no Naku Koro ni_****) during ****_midnight _****of all times, but I couldn't help it. Also, I have no idea why I'm doing this either, but poll time! Submit through either PM or review.**

**_Who are the characters you want to see get in a relationship? _****(Shione and Kyosuke out for obvious reasons :P):**

**_Who is your favorite character so far?:_**

**_Who is your least favorite character?:_**

**_What do you think hatches out of the egg?:_**

**_What Pokemon do you want to hatch out of Noir's egg?:_**

**_Do you actually like this story/me?:_**

**I'm almost to twenty reviews too… damn, that's a nice feeling, having twenty reviews. I'll give the twentieth reviewer a little reward, then.**

**_Reisu, 5/29/13_**


	7. The Chapter Where The Subplot Starts

**For all the people who voted on the poll, thanks for being honest! Especially with the praise, because now I'm smiling like an idiot. Noir's egg actually will contain something music-related… but only Ariesbird and I know what's gonna hatch, so just keep on guessin'~**

**Due to BladeOfTheEclipse for being the 20****th**** reviewer (and generally being an awesome person), the subplot here is made by him and written by me. Assuming I'm gonna get 50 reviews in the future, which I highly doubt, there's probably going to be more of this soon.**

**PS – For the people who said Zorua would hatch… you're three-fourths of the way there. ;P**

**PSS – Jin x Rein is beautiful. No arguments. *shot***

* * *

It was a Zorua.

No… almost. It was a _shiny _Zorua.

It stumbled around unsteadily on the bed, occasionally letting out a small whine of some sort whenever it fell on its trembling legs. Its body structure was of a small, slightly plump black fox, and a flame-shaped tuft of fur was between its large ears. Instead of the usual red coloration, though, it was blue.

Needless to say, Shione, Chris, and Jin were utterly speechless. Only Anko, Tesla, and the Zorua seemed to be perfectly alright and talk-able, communicating with each other in their Poke-speak. The same thought was going through each of their minds right now; '_I really wish those people would hurry up with distributing the machines._'

And then, quite suddenly, Chris dared open his mouth.

"H… H… How… How did you even… What…"

No one could blame him. But at the same time, no one could answer him. Shione still had the violin on her lap, and it was starting to make her thighs sore, but she didn't even feel it.

And _then_, after five long minutes of simply sitting there and staring at the newly hatched Zorua, Shione answered. "Kyo."

It was not much of an answer, though. If it did anything, it made Chris's confusion and disbelief increase tenfold. "… Huh?"

She repeated it without hesitating. "Kyo."

"It's its name?" Jin asked, his surprise slowly fading away at the sight of the Tricky Fox Pokemon. Besides the alternate colors, it seemed to be a perfectly normal and healthy baby, after all.

Shione nodded, smiling at the blonde. "Yeah… Kyo. Named… after his father."

The ruby glowed brightly underneath her shirt and hoodie combined.

* * *

"H… Huh?"

Due to being the first to finish all his classes and being generally smart about History and Pokemon Biology, Jacob had been the first to enter his dorm. A quick glance at the plaque in front stated that he was roommates with some people named Stephanie and Noir, and he assumed Noir was that master violinist from last year everyone had been talking about during the time he was in The Town.

However, when he came in the dorm, Pepper the Growlithe had escaped from her Pokeball and looked somewhat guilty. Looking around the room, Jacob instantly knew why.

"P-Pepper? Why'd you mess up the dorm?" he asked confusedly. Pepper let out a whimper, which was a sharp contrast from her usually playful nature. He knew _something _had gone wrong here; what had happened, though, he didn't know.

Jacob took to the task of investigating. He checked underneath the beds, finding several charred areas that were still sizzling smoke. Next he checked the drawers, which were miraculously unharmed, but at the same time, containing nothing inside. The fluorescent light above them was blinking and flickering unnervingly, hanging off by a few wires and nothing else. Occasionally, Jacob would see Pepper glancing up at the light with another sorry expression. He sighed – looks like he'd have to get someone to fix that light before it spontaneously combust in the middle of the night.

Just before Jacob was about to recheck the beds, the door suddenly slammed open, causing him to jump up at least six feet in the air, narrowly missing the dangling fluorescent light. Stomping furiously in the dorm was a brunette with her hair messy and frazzled, going off to all directions. It was ridiculous, he admitted mentally, but the girl seemed to think otherwise. In her arms, an Eevee sat with an annoyed look on its face, its mane spiky like the girl's hair.

"YOU!" she yelled indignantly, pointing at Jacob like he was a criminal caught red-handed. "Let me see your Pokemon! Now!"

"Huh? Uh, well, okay…" he responded unsurely, retrieving the Pokeballs he had left on the desk. "C-Come on out, everyone, someone kinda wants to see you…"

In bursts of red light, his Pokemon team looked around curiously at the brunette and her Eevee. There was Gigo the Grovyle, and Ziggy the Ampharos; Poncho the Mightyena and Jella the Tentacruel, and finally, his prized Pokemon Vibo the shiny Vibrava. Instantly, the girl redirected her pointer finger to shoot at Ziggy, who tilted his head. "That one! It's an electric type; I bet it was the one to do _this _to my hair!" The Eevee let out a sort of growl. "And to Rose's beautiful mane too!" she added hastily.

The Ampharos shook its head in shock. "Amph, ampha! Ampha_ros_!" he insisted.

Noticing the untouched pair of ear buds on the desk with a note, Jacob rushed towards it and skimmed the paper quickly, then put the ear buds on. Immediately, he was assaulted with an unknown masculine voice shouting, "**Wha, no! I didn't do ****_anything_****!**"

Then, much to his surprise, Ziggy turned to face his trainer with a pleading look. "**I didn't do anything, right? I was in my Pokeball, wasn't I?**"

Jacob couldn't say no to those eyes, but then again, Ziggy didn't do anything anyway. "He didn't do anything, miss," he replied. The girl obviously looked annoyed at her mistake, but turned on her heel and scoffed.

"Hmph, whatever. How do you know for sure? It's not like you can understand him, much less with those things on, and I highly doubt they're those 'machine thingies' as that self-proclaimed goddess called them," she muttered darkly.

He shrugged nervously. "B… But they are… I think Rein just didn't know what else to call them…" he said, futilely trying to defend the 'goddess'. The girl turned to face him slightly, then glared at him and walked off in a sort of a swagger. Jacob stared off after her, confused as to her behavior. It had just been a bad hair day (literally), so why was she so disgruntled? Well, whatever. First of all…

"… May I inquire as to why the dorm is terribly messy?" A soft male voice asked from the doorway, and Jacob jumped up once more. Noir stared somewhat bemusedly at the boy's reaction, his red-orange egg cradled in his arms, before shrugging and entering the dorm. "So? What happened in here?"

Once Jacob landed back (somewhat) safely on the floor, he stumbled around with his words and shook his head. "I… don't know. I came in here, and I think my Growlithe," he gestured towards the whimpering Puppy Pokemon. "Had something to do with it, but other than that, I don't know anything else."

Noir nodded slowly. "… I see…" he said dully. "… Unless you've found out what happened, please do not bother me." Saying that, the brunette snatched the two Pokeballs he had left on the desk and exited the room.

Once again, Jacob found himself confused as to how he was going to deal with his roommates. He found himself at the expense of Gigo's laughing.

* * *

"A battle, right here?" Carlos asked, chewing on the sandwich he had bought. "I'll have you know, my Pokemon are fairly strong and they've all had their share of fights. Are you good enough to stand against even Aipom?"

The redhead sat on the roof of the building, eating takoyaki without a care in the world. Stabbing the toothpick into another octopus ball, the redhead smirked slightly. "I'll have _you _know," he chewed before continuing, "that a certain someone is running around and making people a fool of themselves. Considering you're so strong, it wouldn't be too hard to find out who the culprit is, right?"

Carlos shrugged. "It's you, isn't it?"

The redhead shook his head nonchalantly.

"Then who?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because if you don't, I'm gonna beat it out of you." Carlos grabbed his Rhyperior's Pokeball, grinning. The redhead finished off the rest of the takoyaki with a proud smirk.

"Now that's more like it."

* * *

**Cutting it quick because I gotta study. Cue epic battle tomorrow, and hopefully no more crazy shenanigans with 'fifth attack' and all. **

**Also, there's a ****_slight _****chance I may not update tomorrow (mostly due to the fact I have to go to a certain place and start buying all the ****_Puella Magi Madoka Magica _****(or ****_Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika_****)) goodies. All the otaku people know how that's like…**

**Oh well~  
**

**_Reisu, 5/30/13_**


End file.
